1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a practice round and a system for firing practice rounds which propels a projectile and provides sufficient recoil force to actuate automatic weapons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has long existed the need for an effective practice round for use in automatic and semiautomatic firearms. As automatic weapons are used by more and more organizations such as the military and police, the need for an effective practice round has grown. The primary problem that has existed is the providing of enough "kickback" without raising the muzzle velocity or impact force of the projectile to injurious ranges. Usually with practice or non-lethal rounds it is important to maintain lower muzzle velocities and keep the weight, and therefore the inertia of the projectile, at a minimum. However in doing so, such rounds have not provided enough back force on the slide for proper actuation of the automatic ejection mechanism of the firearm.
The ideal practice round for use with automatic and semiautomatic firearms incorporates the functions of firing a non-lethal projectile to mark the impact point, satisfactorily actuating the automatic ejection of the spent casing and insertion of a live round, functioning in a standard firearm with a minimum modification, and being relatively inexpensive. Practice firearms now being used involve those utilizing a laser, CO.sub.2 actuation or blanks. Obviously the laser type devices are expensive, somewhat cumbersome, fire no projectile, and usually are not conventional in operation. CO.sub.2 type practice devices are sometimes unsafe at close range and are usually not conventional in appearance and operation. The firing of blanks obviously involves no projectile to mark the point of impact tut does offer the advantage of allowing operation of the conventional weapon during practice.
It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a system and practice round which incorporates all of the advantages mentioned above and requires a minimum of modification of a standard firearm for effective operation.